Within the Technical Services Section, the Surveying and Design Services Team are responsible for the overall repair, maintenance, refurbishment, improvement and construction of the Council's building stock. The Council owns over 400 individual properties, but no Council housing. The Team also undertakes feasibility schemes for proposed construction projects.

The Team comprises of a Surveying & Design Services Manager, 4 Building Surveyors, and a Clerk of Works. The Planning Supervisors' role is normally carried out jointly by one of the Building Surveyors and an Engineer.

The Section does not have the services of in-house architects, building services engineers or structural engineers and these services when required are normally let to local practices. Some specialist works, such as asbestos surveys, energy audits and Disability Discrimination Act audits, are also let to local practices. Wherever possible, the Team uses local consultancy practices.

The Team also make use of, and are heavily dependant upon, the backup service given by the Support Services Team, who deal with the issue of works orders to contractors, the payment of invoices, training requirements, as well as providing general administrative and clerical support.

The Work We Do

• Aquarena improvements

Asbestos

The Council are well aware of the dangers of asbestos and take very seriously their responsibilities under the various Health and Safety statutes and guidelines.

A great deal of work has been carried out, by a specialist consultant, to establish a register of the asbestos contained within all Council buildings. This has resulted in as much asbestos as possible being identified, marked and recorded in registers. Each building now has an asbestos register on site, with a central register of all buildings being held by the Surveying & Design Services Team in both paper and PDF format. Any asbestos found has been prioritised for action and a programme of removal has commenced by a licensed asbestos removal contractor, under the supervision of the asbestos consultant. All contractors working on Council premises are warned of the presence of asbestos, before they commence work and have access to an on-site copy of the register.

Inevitably it is not practical to remove all asbestos from all Council buildings, but any asbestos which remains in the building can be properly managed, in accordance with HSE guidelines, to ensure that it does not become a hazard to the public and users of the building. The condition of Retained Asbestos is re-checked regularly.

WBC Asbestos Register (PDF file 2,863KB) - (file size = 2,862 KB)

Current Projects

The Surveying & Design Services Team undertakes a large number of small and medium sized building projects each year, ranging from planned maintenance schemes to refurbishment and improvement projects together with the occasional new build scheme.

The Team also has a number of feasibility schemes each year in order to decide on funding priorities or to seek lottery funding, etc.

Contractors for major projects are selected using the services of 'Constructionline'. For more details see the Approved Contractors and Consultants page.

• Works on the Assembly Hall
• Various DDA Works to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act
• Repairs to the stonework at the Museum and Art Gallery

The core task for the Surveying & Design Services Team is to undertake regular repair and maintenance of the 400+ Council buildings. This maintenance comes in two forms; day to day repairs, and more structured planned maintenance work. The Council does not have building maintenance tradesmen of it's own, but relies on the services of private term maintenance contractors. The Team is very client oriented and responds mainly to requests from the client and/or members of the public. The Council welcomes reports of defects from members of the public in relation to Council properties and these can be reported.

The Team provides 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year cover for building emergencies occurring in relation to Council properties and the term maintenance contractors respond accordingly.

Along with this core workload the Team deals with a large number of other tasks, primarily the refurbishment, improvement and construction of Council buildings. These services are provided by in house staff supported by a wide range of external consultants.

The Team does not deal with general property management matters, these are dealt with by the Estates Section.

How to Contact Us

To report problems/faults/defects noted to Council properties please contact Technical Services.

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